Four Seasons' Worth
by jellyjay
Summary: Four Seasons, Four Loves. It had always been Iroh’s favourite song – if only because it made more sense than his nephew knew. Zutara. Mild spoilers for TWAT, TFM and TBR.


**Don't tell me you didn't see me getting distracted.**

**Four Seasons' Worth**

* * *

_Winter_

When it all began, there were two ways to describe their relationship: absolute loathing or non-existent.

It wasn't at all a hard concept to understand - in a time in which the Fire Nation had pushed her very tribe to the verge of extinction… _well_… it was sort of reasonable. Not to mention, they were polar opposites as it was: Zuko and Katara; fire and water, prince and peasant, yin and yang…

In one word, they were enemies. Naturally, they thought that things weren't likely to change.

And, like the season in which it all began, the only words and glances they exchanged were icy, bitter and cold.

* * *

_Spring_

When the ice began to melt, things began to change, and by Spring, the Fire Prince found himself eye level with her in the structure of society – the peasantry.

They didn't see each other much.

It was odd though – a little humiliation really did wonders for them. Zuko wasn't quite as stuck up as used to be – in Katara's opinion at least – and in all honesty, she kind of… she didn't want to say _pitied_ – _pitied _was dumb word – she felt for him, and all of a sudden he wasn't that much of an enemy anymore.

She could help him, she realised, she could _heal _him – they were, in fact, capable of being _friends_, and perhaps in return, he could help them and teach Aang how to firebend.

So when Zuko betrayed her at the end of the season, she felt perhaps more than a _little _hurt.

* * *

_Summer_

There were two different moods in the Summer.

The first was, ironically enough, rather _heated. _Because that was what it was. There was no need to say that Katara did not forgive him quickly after what had happened in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. She was beyond just _pissed off _with him – what he did down there was just…_ unjustifiable_ to her. There was really nothing he could say to her that would excuse his behaviour.

It was what he did that managed to get him in her good books again.

Teaching Aang to firebend, rescuing her father, becoming Toph's unrelated older brother…

It was odd that she grew to like him because of the things he did for her friends rather than the things he did for her.

She warmed up to him rather quickly after that.

* * *

_And__ Fall_

They were closest by the Fall.

After everything they'd been through, it was nice to know that they turned out to be the best of friends – inseparable, joint at the hip, complete with a language that no one else could get the _real _meanings of and inside jokes that no one bothered trying to understand anymore.

They were surprisingly tolerant with Iroh and his jokes about marriage and Toph and her taunts about their love lives, Sokka had given up on threatening Zuko – there was no point now anyway; he'd perfected the art of ignoring him. Aang turned out to be startlingly supportive of her, something she was incredibly grateful for, despite his previous crush on her.

One night, over dinner, Zuko handed her an engagement necklace. He was very casual about it.

"What do you think?" he'd asked. Everyone else fell silent despite the fact they'd all seen it coming for a while. They stopped to listen anyway.

She grinned at him. "Sure, Zuko. I'd be honoured."

Toph scowled as she dropped four gold pieces into Iroh's open palm.

* * *

_Four Seasons, Four Loves_

It had always been Iroh's favourite song – if only because it made more sense than his nephew knew. He'd made a point of singing it on their wedding night the next summer.

Later on, he would sing the same song to his grandchildren and they would ask, "Grandpa, why do you like that song so much?"

And he would reply, "Because it tells the story of how long your mother and father took to realise that they were meant for each other."

"Really?" they would ask. "How long did it take them?"

And in reply, he would sing it again:

"_Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall,  
Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall,  
Four Seasons, Four Loves  
Four Seasons, Four Loves."_

* * *

**R'n'R**

**JJ**


End file.
